Navy Medicine Commemorates Hospital Corps' 115th birthday

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (NNS) -- The Navy Hospital Corps will celebrate 115 years of service June 17.

During the anniversary of the Hospital Corps, Navy Medicine leadership, corpsmen, and staff come together across the Navy Medicine enterprise to honor the sacrifice and achievements of hospital corpsmen past and present.

"Over the past century, the unyielding commitment of our Hospital Corps has been nothing short of remarkable," said Master Chief Sherman Boss, director of the Hospital Corps, and Force Master Chief, U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, during a ceremony held at the Defense Health Headquarters honoring the 115th birthday of the Hospital Corps, June 13. "Your service today stands as a benchmark of excellence and professionalism within the Navy and Marine Corps. As the Hospital Corps begins another year of dedicated service to our warriors and their families, we remember the rich traditions and legacy of the past and look forward to the future service to our great nation."

Established June 17, 1898, the Hospital Corps provides health care to Sailors, Marines, and those entrusted to their care on the battlefield, at sea, under the sea, and in military treatment facilities worldwide.

"No Marine has gone into battle without you. No ship or sub has gone underway without you," said Rear Adm. Mittelman, deputy Navy surgeon general. "You're always in the thick of the battle and the main reason we have a 97 percent save rate on the battlefield. Your lineage is one of honor, courage and commitment."

Although the name of hospital corpsmen has changed from the Corps' inception in the Continental Navy, from loblolly boy to pharmacists mate to hospital corpsman, the core values of the Hospital Corps remain the same.

"The reason I became a hospital corpsman was because of my grandmother who was sick and I was taking care of her," said Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class, Keeon Haynes, the most junior corpsman during the ceremony. "It means so much to me to help people because that is just what I do - putting other people before me. It means more to me to take care of someone else and see them get better than anything else in the world - it makes me happy."

The Hospital Corps, which consists of more than 25,480 active duty and reserve Navy hospital corpsmen, is the largest and most decorated rating in the Navy. Twenty naval ships have been named after hospital corpsmen. Since 1919, 178 corpsmen have received the Navy Cross Award. In the Vietnam War alone, hospital corpsmen received four Medals of Honor, 31 Navy Crosses, 127 Silver Stars, and 291 Bronze Stars for heroics under fire.

U.S. Navy Medicine is a global health care network of 63,000 Navy medical personnel around the world who provide high quality health care to more than one million eligible beneficiaries. Navy Medicine personnel deploy with Sailors and Marines worldwide, providing critical mission support aboard ship, in the air, under the sea and on the battlefield.

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.>
For more news from Navy Medicine, visit www.navy.mil/local/mednews/.